This Month

Arranged by date of first airing Fort Peck Dam         Work had just begun, and already it was the largest Dam in the world. It provided hope and the prospect of a regular paycheck during darkest days of the great depression. The Dam was an engineering feat in a place as harsh and desolate as any on earth. Thousands of men and their families faced unforgiving conditions to build the Fort Peck Dam, a project bold in design, daring in execution, and far reaching in its effects. Airs Wednesday 5/1 at 12pm     11th & Grant with Eric Funk    The Dirty Shame   (No. 702 ) In the tradition of outlaw country music, The Dirty Shame takes listeners on a journey into the wild west, offering their own twist on a Western theme. Airs Thursday 5/2 at 7pm, repeats Saturday 5/4 at 10:07pm, Monday 5/6 at 3:30am     Backroads of Montana    Pancakes and Polo   (No. 111 ) Get ready for wild rides, wild flowers, and wild stories in this episode. We gape at cowboy polo east of Missoula; walk through a field of wildflowers on Big Hole Pass west of Dillon, listen in at the annual storytellers' conference in Cut Bank, and stop along the way for a bite to eat at Yesterday's Calf-A in Dell. And host William Marcus gives us a tour of the original Governor's Mansion in Helena, built by a businessman in 1888 and residence of governors from 1931 to 1959. Airs Saturday 5/4 at 5:30pm, repeats Monday 5/13 at 4:30am     Virginia City    Where History Lives     This program takes viewers down the boardwalks of Virginia City, Montana. Regional characters share the captivating history of the area while incorporating wonderful stories and personal experiences that detail how Virginia City shaped the area and Montana's early days. Airs Saturday 5/4 at 5pm, repeats Sunday 5/19 at 10:30am     Business: Made In Montana    Outdoor Edition   (No. 2001 ) This episode features the following businesses: Mystery Ranch, Bozeman; LB Snow, Missoula; North Star West Inc., Antique Powder Rifles, Superior; Schnee's Boots, Bozeman; Hart's Motorsports & Dyno, Lolo; and 5 Cord Manufacturing, Missoula. Airs Sunday 5/5 at 10:30am     Montana Ag Live    Women Take Over Ag Live!   (No. 3905 ) Montana agriculture just wouldn't be the same without the women! Join us for "women's night at AG Live" with Jacy Rothschiller of Montana Botanicals and our first ever all-female panel. Airs Sunday 5/5 at 11am     Montana Ag Live    Montana Treasures: Can Fish & Ag Coexist?   (No. 3906 ) Bruce Rich, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, Bureau Chief for Fisheries will answer questions concerning the interaction of agriculture and maintaining healthy fish populations. Airs Sunday 5/5 at 6pm, repeats Sunday 5/12 at 11am     4-H: Six Montana Stories         Follow six young Montanans as they learn that 4-H is about having fun - but being responsible about it. It's about refusing to give up on the runt of the litter, staying up all night to bottle feed a sick calf while knowing someday you'll have to say goodbye. It's about knowing where you're headed but never forgetting where you've been. And it's about pledging your head, your heart, your hands, and your health - not for yourself, but to help others. Airs Thursday 5/9 at 7pm, repeats Monday 5/13 at 3am     Backroads of Montana    Music and Memories   (No. 112 ) The Backroads crew takes us along on visits to the Accordion Festival in Philipsburg, the Ross Cedars in Northwest Montana, a bucking bronco school in Arlee and historic Mann Gulch near Helena. And we get to know a grain elevator photographer in Bozeman. Airs Saturday 5/11 at 5:30pm     Charles M. Russell Nwr    Nature's Timeless Landscape     The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is a sprawling slice of the American West. Located in the heart of Montana's breaks country, the refuge has abundant wildlife species including sharp-tailed grouse, sage grouse, bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, elk and over 236 kinds of migratory birds. Stretching more than 125 miles from east to west along the Missouri River, the refuge is not one destination, but many. Airs Saturday 5/11 at 5pm, repeats Wednesday 5/15 at 1am     Global Positioning    Myles and Terry Grotbo   (No. 208 ) Myles and Terry Grotbo grew up in Phillipsburg and are longtime residents of Helena. Both are experienced geologists with extensive backgrounds as mining and environmental engineering consultants, working on projects in West Africa and Latin America. Airs Sunday 5/12 at 10:30am     Montana Ag Live    Grain Markets In Montana Today   (No. 3907 ) Anton Bekkerman, MSU agricultural economist, looks at the changing landscape of Montana's grain markets. Airs Sunday 5/12 at 6pm, repeats Sunday 5/19 at 11am     11th & Grant with Eric Funk    Wilbur Rehmann Quintet   (No. 802 ) Helena performers Wilbur Rehmann on saxophone and Blackie Nelson on guitar shine a light on jazz standards as this quintet heats up the studio of 11th & Grant. In his 80s, legendary Montana jazz guitarist Blackie Nelson demonstrates clearly how musicians seem to become younger even as they age. Jazz as it ought to be: The Wilbur Rehmann Jazz Quintet. Airs Thursday 5/16 at 7pm, repeats Saturday 5/18 at 10:39pm, Monday 5/20 at 3am     Backroads of Montana    Flathead Lake to the Crazy Mountains   (No. 113 ) William Marcus introduces us to a Big Timber man who works on a minute level; follow a group of seniors as they beautify a stretch of highway in northwest Montana; hitch a ride on the Orphan Girl Express at the World Museum of Mining in Butte; unwind in Helena with a man who restores wind-up phonographs and storm the castle in White Sulphur Springs. Produced by KUFM-TV/Montana PBS, UM-Missoula. Airs Saturday 5/18 at 5:30pm     Maps: Finding Our Voice         The MAPS students are at it again. Join alumni and current students on an intimate tour of who MAPS really is -- the students and their creative forces. Get an insider's look at the people of MAPS and the creative work they produce in the Bitterroot Valley. MAPS is an after school media arts program that provides free media arts education to Bitterroot Valley high school students. The students will take the audience on a whimsical tour of MAPS and the creative chaos behind it all. Airs Saturday 5/18 at 5pm     Montana Ag Live    2013 Legislative Impact On Msu   (No. 3908 ) MSU President Waded Cruzado will visit Montana Ag Live, and bring viewers up to date on the 2013 legislative session and her vision for the College of Agriculture. Airs Sunday 5/19 at 6pm, repeats Sunday 5/26 at 11am     Backroads of Montana    Paintings, Partials and Pies   (No. 137 ) Follow competitors in the cherry pit spitting and cherry pie eating contests at the Flathead Cherry Festival in Polson. Learn the story of Hobson dentist Virgil Stewart who began his practice in 1912 during an era when most rural Montanans could not afford such care. Hike into the Sweet Grass Hills where an unexpected natural wonder rises out of the prairie. And meet an eastern Montana man whose passion for art has literally spread all over the town of Forsyth. William Marcus hosts the program from historical landmarks near Havre and Chinook. Airs Monday 5/20 at 8pm, repeats Wednesday 5/22 at 1am, Saturday 5/25 at 5:30pm     Guns in the Big Sky    Montana's Gun Culture   (No. 101 ) From ranchers who use guns to manage their livestock to survivors of a 1986 Montana school shooting, this program explores the role of guns in Montana's culture. In Montana, women in isolated, rural areas carry weapons to protect their families and 12-year-olds learn gun safety and hunt for food. But there's also a dark side to the gun culture. Crimes, violence and even school shootings in our state are also examined. This documentary is the most recent edition of a 26-year long tradition of films produced by the students of The University of Montana School of Journalism. Airs Tuesday 5/21 at 7pm, repeats Wednesday 5/22 at 12pm, Thursday 5/23 at 5am, Thursday 5/23 at 3am, Saturday 5/25 at 4:30pm     Guns in the Big Sky    Keeping Schools Safe, A Town Hall Meeting   (No. 102 ) MontanaPBS concludes its special series Guns in the Big Sky with a live forum on school safety. This program brings the conversation of gun regulation, sparked by the recent tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, to Montana schools. Can gun regulation play a role in school safety? What options might make our schools safer? Airs Thursday 5/23 at 7pm, repeats Wednesday 5/29 at 12pm     Global Positioning    Tseji Llamo   (No. 209 ) Tseji Llamo tells her story about growing up in a poor rural village in Tibet, and finding her way to educational opportunities, including a sponsored year at Carroll College, where she's studying business. Airs Sunday 5/26 at 10:30am     Clearing The Smoke    The Science of Cannabis     Montana's Medical Marijuana law has been the subject of intense controversy and criticism. While the media has covered the social issues well, there has been little discussion about the science. This MontanaPBS documentary reveals how cannabis acts on the brain and in the body to treat nausea, pain, epilepsy and potentially even cancer. Extensive interviews with patients, doctors, researchers and skeptics detail the promises and the limitations of medicinal cannabis. Airs Thursday 5/30 at 7pm     View Printable Monthly Highlights April|May|June|July